


Sick Day

by All_I_Want_Is_You



Series: My boys deserve a family [6]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Julie Molina has anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29981883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_I_Want_Is_You/pseuds/All_I_Want_Is_You
Summary: Alex gets sick. Julie has a panic attack about it.
Series: My boys deserve a family [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2179323
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	Sick Day

**Author's Note:**

> As per usual, I own nothing.
> 
> TW: description of panic attacks

There is absolutely nothing worse than waking up sick. Alright, maybe there were a few things that were worse; but Alex couldn’t think of any at the moment. He had gotten an average amount of sleep for a ghost - just a couple hours - but he felt miles worse than when he laid down.

He felt a headache coming on - nothing unusual for the anxious phantom - so he did what he always did. He had a small snack and took a nap, his mom’s words echoing in his head ‘never underestimate the power of a snack and a nap when you feel sick or sad’.

However, this time when he woke up, his headache had progressed into a migraine, he was incredibly achey, and his throat was as rough as a cat’s scratching post. He hadn’t felt this bad in years and that wasn’t even including the 25 he spent crying in that weird dark room.

Alex groaned, but pushed himself up anyway. The last thing he wanted was to be late to band practice. Luke would be unbearable and harp on him. He stumbled his way down the ladder of the loft and went to his drum set, content to wait for the others to show up. 

The first to arrive was, unsurprisingly, Luke. He slammed the doors open and strode in. He practically vibrated with energy. Usually that didn’t bother Alex unless he was trying to focus or something, but today, he felt so bad that he couldn’t handle it.

“What’s your problem, man? That is so unnecessary,” Alex snapped at Luke.

“Woah, dude. Are you okay? I mean, I know I should be gentler with the door, but geez. It’s not like I haven’t entered a room like that before,” Luke responded.

Alex just growled at Luke before looking away and picking up his drumsticks. He didn’t want to have to deal with Luke any more than he already had to.

Luke just shook his head at Alex and went to tune his guitar before practice. While he was doing that, Reggie popped in with an enthusiastic “Hey, guys!”, which caused Alex to jump and accidentally throw his drumsticks across the room at the disturbance.

“What is with you guys?! You both are acting like children. You know what? I can’t deal with this right now. I’m outta here,” Alex popped out in a dramatic fashion.

Unfortunately, Alex missed where he was trying to go. Instead of ending up in the park down the street, he accidentally popped into the Molina living room where Ray was watching the baseball game while editing some photos from the shoot he had earlier that day.

“Oh! Hello, Alex. I didn’t expect to see you. Isn’t the band supposed to be practicing right now?” Ray was startled, but happy, to see Alex.

Ray looked closer at Alex after he didn’t answer. What Ray saw concerned him. Alex’s cheeks were a bright red and his eyes were glassy. His lips were slightly open as he breathed through his mouth, and chapped red. He also seemed to be unable to focus on any one thing for longer than a few seconds and his eyes were wandering around the room.

As a father, Ray knows the signs of a sick kid and Alex is checking all of the boxes. He puts his computer to the side and stands up to go to Alex. 

“Oh, mijo. Shhh. Let me feel your head,” Ray kept up a steady stream of soothing words as he moved to put his lips against Alex’s forehead to feel for a fever. 

Alex melted into Ray, catching him off guard. He had never had someone take his temperature that way. Usually, his parents would thrust the thermometer at him and he would be left to take his own temperature. Having Ray do it now was just too much to handle on top of feeling bad.

Alex wouldn’t have been able to stop the tears if he wanted to, not that he did. He was just so overwhelmed. The next thing he knew, Ray was leading him over to the couch and helping him sit down.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on, hmm?” Ray asked Alex.

Alex just kept crying, not able to stop and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to talk anyway. His throat was starting to hurt more and more. It felt like the Sahara moved into his throat!

“Okay, I can see that isn’t going to work right now. Let’s just sit here for a while and see if we can calm down,” Ray gently laid Alex down on the couch and put his head on his lap. He ran his fingers through Alex’s hair softly, not saying anything, but just being a calming presence. 

As Alex started to slowly calm down, he had a harder and harder time keeping his eyes open. Each time they drifted closed, Alex jerked awake. This happened more than once, but the time between closing his eyes and popping awake was getting a little longer each time. Slowly, even the jerks awake were getting weaker and weaker.

Finally, Alex seemed to just give in and let his eyes stay closed. As he slipped into a nap, Ray kept up his soothing ministrations. Despite the evidence in front of him, Ray wondered if it was possible for ghosts to get sick. It certainly seemed like it. But did that mean living people could get sick from being around ghosts? There were too many unknowns in this situation. Ray decided to focus on what he could control, which was helping his kid feel better.

Julie stepped into the living room, “Dad, have you see...Oh! There he is,” Julie dropped her voice to a whisper as she saw Alex laying on the couch with his eyes closed. She looked closer at him.

“Is he okay?” Julie asked, concerned about what she saw.

“I think he just has a bit of a cold. He’ll be fine, mija. Why don’t you go back to the studio and practice with Reggie and Luke?” Ray wanted Julie to focus on something other than her sick friend. He knew she had a hard time handling the people around her being sick, ever since her mom was diagnosed. It didn’t matter if it was a simple cold or the flu, Julie still tended to panic.

“Um, okay. Yeah. I’ll just… go back out. Let me know if you need anything,” Julie said before spinning on her heel and walking quickly back out of the room.

Julie hurried to the studio and walked three steps inside before breaking down completely. She collapsed to the floor, her legs unable to support her any longer. 

As she dropped, Luke and Reggie were right there next to her.

“Julie? Julie! Oh goodness, are you okay?” Reggie reacted.

“Obviously she isn’t, doofus. Julie? Can you hear me?” Luke responded to Reggie before focusing his attention on Julie.

Julie was gasping for air. She couldn’t get enough of a breath to answer either of them. The room started spinning. Wait, rooms don’t spin. Maybe she was spinning? No, that didn’t make sense, either. Why would she spin?

Luke and Reggie looked at each other over Julie’s head. They had been beyond worried when Julie sped into the studio and then just crashed to the floor. The boys raced over to her, never more thankful that they could touch her than now.

“Jules, I need you to breathe for me. Can you do that? Good job! Can you take another one?” Luke asked. 

Julie was trying to follow Luke’s directions and take deep breaths, but each one stuttered and fizzled inside of her. She felt warm when Luke praised her efforts, even knowing that she wasn’t doing it right.

“Julie, I need you to focus on what I’m saying now, okay? Can you do that? Good, I need you to let me know if it’s okay for me to touch you right now?” Luke questioned. 

Julie nodded, not able to speak past her gasping breaths, but god, she needed something to anchor her. She hated this floaty feeling. She recognized now what was happening to her. She hadn’t had a panic attack in a while, which is what made this one seem so bad. She wasn’t used to them anymore.

Luke was relieved that Julie responded to his question because he wanted to do whatever he could to make her feel better. He made sure that he was in Julie’s sights before he started moving towards her. Even if she gave permission, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t startle her if she didn’t see him coming. 

Luke started with wrapping one arm around Julie’s shoulders. When she leaned into it, Luke took his other arm and completed the hug. He pulled her so that they were facing each other and Luke gently guided Julie’s head into the crook where his neck met his shoulder. This way, he could help her block out the world and the extra sensory input and he could give her a hug. He wrapped one arm around Julie’s back and with the other, he cradled her head.

“Breathe with me, Julie. Feel my breaths and match them. In, 2, 3, 4. Hold, 2, 3, 4. Out, 2, 3, 4. Good job, Jules. Let’s do it again,” Luke coached.

Luke helped Julie breath for a few more repetitions before falling silent and just letting her get her emotions out. They were past the panic and he thought that Julie just needed to be able to cry.

Julie mumbled something to Luke.

“I’m sorry. I don’t speak mumbles. Can you try again in English?” Luke joked.

Julie regretfully lifted her head from where it was resting on Luke’s shoulder, “I said, where did you learn how to handle panic attacks?”

“Oh, well, you know Alex is just a bundle of tightly wound emotions. That isn’t a new development. The poor kid has been having panic attacks for years. He has had them ever since I met him, and we were 12 when we met,” Luke explained.

Julie nodded. That made a lot of sense, actually. Whatever the reason, she was beyond glad that he knew what to do.

“Okay. Can we just… stay here for a little while longer?” Julie asked softly. She was afraid Luke was going to say no, but she needn’t have worried. 

“Of course, Jules. We can stay here for as long as you need. Do you mind if Reg joins us? He’s looking a little upset at being left out,” Luke replied.

Sure enough, Reggie was standing near the couch that Luke had moved Julie to, not coming closer, but practically vibrating with the need to do something to help.

Julie tiredly nodded her head and shifted the arm closest to Reggie over so the boy had some room.

Reggie practically ran over and slid into position, working with Luke to give Julie all the cuddles she needed.

“So, not that I’m pressuring you or anything, but do you know what brought this on? I’m only asking because I don’t want to do anything that would trigger you like this in the future,” Luke asked softly.

“Alex is sick,” Julie said, tears welling up in her eyes once more.

Luke didn’t know why that would cause such a visceral reaction from Julie. Sure, it was weird that a ghost got sick, but they’ve always been weird ghosts.

“I hate when people are sick. I feel so helpless. Like there’s something that I need to be doing to help them,” Julie continued. “Ever since… ever since my mom got sick. What if Alex dies? What if he’s just in constant pain? What if-” Luke put his hand over Julie’s mouth at that point. He could see that she was working herself into a panic again.

“Aw, Jules. It’s not going to be like that. Besides, Alex is already dead, so he’s not gonna die again. And yeah, he might have a headache or a tummy ache, maybe a sore throat, but that’s all normal stuff. Things you’ve had before, I’m sure,” Luke comforted.

Julie sniffled and nodded her head. She knew Luke was right. She was being irrational. Alex just had a cold, that was it. But it still scared her. She burrowed herself deeper into Luke and Reggie’s embrace, trying to lose the cold feeling that was squeezing her heart.

*Inside the house*

Ray sighed. He knew as soon as Julie ran out of the living room that she wasn’t going to handle this well at all. Thankfully, he also knew that Luke and Reggie loved his daughter and wouldn’t let her go through this alone. Alex was the one who needed his attention right now.

Alex started twitching in his sleep, muttering under his breath. He started shaking his head furiously, his muttering getting louder.

“No. No. Dad, please-” Ray heard. He didn’t want to wake Alex, but he wasn’t about to let him go through this nightmare alone while he was sick.

Ray started to rub Alex’s shoulder, not shaking him, just soothing away the pain and fear.

Alex thrashed his head a few times more before jerking himself awake.

“Wha-what’s going on? Ray? Why am I laying in your lap?” Alex demanded to know. He was about to get up when Ray shushed him and continued his ministrations. Alex lay stiffly at first, not used to this sort of care from a parental figure for many years, but slowly relaxed.

Ray sighed silently in relief as he felt Alex let go of the stress and worry he had been holding on to.

“I’m going to go get you a warm washcloth and a cold compress, okay? I’ll only be gone a couple of minutes, and then I’ll be right back,” Ray whispered.

Alex wasn’t sure why he was getting those things, but decided it took too much energy to ask and he just lifted his head slightly so Ray could slip out from under him.

His questions were answered in the promised couple minutes. Ray slid back under Alex and lifted the bottom of his hoodie to place the warm washcloth over his stomach and put the compress on his head.

Alex was shocked. He didn’t expect it to feel as good as it did, but the washcloth soothed his upset stomach more than he thought it would, making him realize how bad he truly felt. The compress on his head eased the headache that was threatening to go towards migraine-ville. 

Ray admitted to himself that he was in unfamiliar territory. Usually when one of his kids was sick, he made his abuela’s caldo de pollo, but he couldn’t do that since the boys couldn’t eat. He settled for doing the rest of the things that he usually did, hence the cuddles, compress, and washcloth.

Ray sat with Alex for a long time. He lost track of the time. He did notice, however, when Julie walked in with Luke and Reggie. He could see the red around her eyes and the slight stutter her breathing still held. He sighed. He hadn’t gotten her away fast enough. He could recognize the signs of a panic attack. He was thankful that the boys seemed capable enough to handle it and so Ray whispered, “Take her upstairs and put her to bed.” 

He trusted the boys to stay with her, though that made him wonder what that meant about his own mental health. He was trusting two teenage boys, in a room, alone, with his daughter. Ray didn’t know if the fact that they were ghosts made it better or worse. He saw the way Luke and Julie looked at each other. He wasn’t as clueless as his daughter seemed to think he was. But he also knew that the boys respected her. He heard them call Julie “Boss” enough times to know that.

Alex woke up shortly after that. He looked around, slightly disoriented, but ultimately feeling better than when Ray had gently manhandled him onto the couch to cuddle. Seemingly ghost sickness left with the same suddenness that it appeared with.

He sat up slowly, not wanting to trigger anything coming back. He looked around and found Ray seated under where his head was, reclined and drooling in sleep. He continued his sweep around the room and saw that Luke was sitting on the floor, leaned up against Ray’s legs, also sleeping. Finally, Alex saw Carlos, sitting on the arm of the couch at his dad’s side, curled up under his arm.

As Alex finished looking around the room, Reggie and Julie made their way down the stairs and into the living room. He could see the way Reggie was supporting Julie, but could also see that Julie was determined to make it to the living room. 

He laid his head back down in Ray’s lap, not wanting the others to know he was awake yet. He pretended to be asleep as Julie moved his legs slightly over and curled up in the space that was made. She rested her head on Alex’s thigh and he felt something melt in his chest that he hadn’t even known existed. 

Reggie sat next to Julie on the arm, matching Carlos’s pose, except he wrapped his arm around Julie. Instead of being the one that was held, he was the one doing the holding.

This was what every sick kid needs. A family to sit with them and make sure they are okay. Alex never had that when he was alive, so he was glad he was able to experience that now.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a kudos and/or a comment! If you have any suggestions, I'm totally open to it.
> 
> My dad always told me that I speak mumbles and to speak up, so I threw that in there.


End file.
